Chapter 9

Maya tucked her quarterstaff under her arm and rubbed her hands together briskly, trying to get some warmth into them. The sky was gray and leaden, the sun hidden behind a gloomy bank of clouds, and the cold wind blew incessantly, forcing her to squint. She and her two companions were walking along the floor of a deep valley, and the landscape was as gloomy as the sky, all gray stone and yellow grass, and a river ran its middle.

Cat walked beside her, her trusty laser rifle holstered on her back, flame colored hair blowing out behind her. Roger led the way, for he had come upon her where she lay dying in the snow, and only he knew the way to their destination. Like his daughter, he had a laser rifle strapped to his back, and he carried a thick cudgel in his belt. His eyes darted all about, as though he expected a horde of gihox to come charging down at them at any moment.

''What is it exactly you're looking to find?'' Cat asked.

''I'm not entirely sure,'' Maya replied. ''But whatever it is, I've got to find it. How much further?''

''We're nearly there,'' Roger replied.

The cold wind continued to blow in their faces as they walked, making Maya wish she were wearing something warmer. Most of her current clothing she had borrowed from Cat, for the tank top and pants she had been found in were completely ruined. Her red t-shirt and blue jeans were a bit too big for her, as her friend was a bit bigger than she. She wore a short, brown jacket, trimmed in white fur, and her brown, fur trimmed boots were the ones she had been found in.

According to her rescuers, she had been wearing a device on her wrist where she lay in the snow, but it had been smashed to the point where it would have been impractical to try and have it repaired. She still wore the necklace she had been found in, as well as the white belt that now slanted across her waist. She fingered the belt buckle absently, as she tried to remember what it meant. It had to be connected to the monastery she had remembered earlier, where she had been trained in the martial arts.

Suddenly she got the feeling she was being watched, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She stopped in her tracks, hands tightening around the haft of her quarterstaff as she glanced all about, half expecting a gihox scout patrol or some of those massive dogs to have spotted them. Her companions took their laser rifles from their backs and glanced about.

Maya caught a flicker of movement at the edge of her vision, and turned just in time to see something tall and wiry burst from the river. Water sprayed her, but she paid it no heed, for the thing swung a thin arm, droplets of water flying from its extended claws. She dropped to one knee as the claws flew above her head. Then her staff shot up, connecting solidly under its chin, sending it staggering back, gasping for breath that would hardly come. Her two companions opened fire simultaneously, dropping the creature to the riverbank.

''What the hell was that thing?'' Cat asked.

Roger approached the creature carefully, poking it with the barrel of his rifle to make sure that it was truly dead. It was just over eight feet tall but was thin for its height, and with a short torso, making it seem to be mostly arms and legs. Its face was somewhat reminiscent of that of a gihox, except with a lipless mouth, studded with fangs that were angled inward, like those of a shark, and tiny, perfectly round eyes that shone like black pearls. Its skin was a pale blue color, making for an ideal camouflage in the water.

''It must be a waterborne cousin of the gihox,'' Roger surmised.

Maya opened her mouth to speak, but noticed more than a dozen dark forms out on the water, approaching the riverbank. She looked from her staff to the laser rifles carried by her two companions, and sighed in dismay. She knew that however valiant they would be, they could not hope to defeat such an overwhelming force. ''We have to get out of here,'' she said, and then they were off and running.

Maya sped across the valley floor, frequently glancing over her shoulder to see the lanky, lurching forms in close pursuit. Her companions fired their laser rifles from time to time, but never got a clear enough shot to do any real damage. The creatures, with their longer legs, were gaining ground on the humans.

''We're nearly to the spot where you wanted to go,'' Roger said. ''I know it's a bit far fetched, but maybe this device of yours is a weapon.''

They cut between two cliffs and crossed into another valley, and after a short while they came to a spot at the base of a mountain. And there in the grass lay the device she had been looking for. It was shaped more than anything else like a cellphone, and it even sported a touching screen. Maya snatched it off the ground, and for some reason she felt more powerful. Their pursuers formed a semicircle around them, black eyes staring at their prey intently.

A creature rushed in at Roger with a grating snarl, clawed fingers raking through the air and seeking his face. The big man bellowed a curse and raised his laser rifle up in front of him to block the incoming attack. The firearm became useless in his hands as the claws cut into it, but it was enough to save his life. He grabbed what remained of the rifle in both hands and swung it like a club, knocking the creature to the ground. Then he fell upon it with another swing, ending its miserable life.

Cat put a bolt between the eyes of one creature, then shot a second in the belly, and it dropped to the ground, squirming in agony. Several more fell before her, but then she had to reload the weapon, and the creatures wasted no time in exploiting that. She winced as a particularly large creature charged at her. She fumbled with the magazine, and eventually got it in the slot, but it was too late, the creature was already upon her. With a victorious snarl the thing brought its hand down, claws slashing.

''Catherine!'' Roger cried.

Suddenly a powerful gust of wind blasted the creature from its feet and hurled it back into the ranks of waiting monsters. Several creatures were ploughed over by the impact, and for a few stunned seconds there was silence, except for the incessant wind. The creature got back to its feet and advanced, although more cautiously this time. Cat glanced over her shoulder to where the wind had come from, to where Maya was standing.

Maya stepped out in front to face the creatures, the device clutched in one hand, the other extended out toward the monsters. A raging torrent of water spewed forth from her palm, sweeping the creatures from their feet and swirling into a ball of water. Within the ball the creatures could be seen, thrashing futilely as they tried to swim. Then a bolt of red lightning streaked down from on high, striking the ball, and with a blinding flash it fell apart, leaving the creatures lying strewn about the valley floor, groaning and twitching.

''You've got some explaining to do,'' Cat said.

To be continued…

Gihox: Deshi Basara, by Hans Zimmer